Atiku blasts FG, says ₦50,000 WAEC, NECO fees will deny many children education

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC) Party, has strongly criticized the recent hike in fees of Federal Unity Colleges and the adoption of a single ₦50,000 examination fee for both WAEC and NECO candidates starting from the year 2027. This is considered to be cruel and economically irrational.

As per recent news reports, the federal government has increased the fee for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) from ₦27,500 to ₦50,000 with effect from the year 2027.

In an official statement released on 18th June, Adeniji Ibrahim, Director of Senior Secondary Education, Ministry of Education, said that the move came after consultation between the examining agencies and the Minister of Education regarding the need to revise the examination fees.

Adeniji Ibrahim further stated that the minister instructed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) to adopt a single fee for conducting their SSCE examinations.

Atiku expressed his reaction in a statement released through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, saying that the hike is unwise in times where Nigerians are battling with inflation, rising prices of food, high cost of transportation, increasing electricity tariff, stagnating income and unemployment.

He explained that the increase in fees is not consistent with the constitutional mandate of the government to provide access to education to all Nigerian children.

Atiku believes that education is the best tool of social mobility and the only way for millions of poor children to escape from poverty.

“A government that genuinely believes in the future of its people does not erect financial barriers between children and education. It removes them. Education is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy; it is the birthright of every Nigerian child and the foundation upon which prosperous nations are built,” he said.

The former Vice President noted that Nigeria already has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world, estimated at between 10.5 million and 15 million, depending on the methodology used.

He warned that increasing fees in Federal Unity Colleges and raising WAEC and NECO examination fees would worsen the situation by forcing more children out of school.

According to him, the policy would disproportionately affect children from poor and middle-income families who are already struggling to meet basic needs.

“The consequences of these policies extend far beyond school gates. Every child priced out of education today becomes tomorrow’s victim of unemployment, poverty, child labour, criminal exploitation, drug abuse or insecurity. Nations do not become prosperous by making education more expensive; they prosper by making education more accessible,” he stated.

Atiku also said the new examination fee would make it more difficult for academically qualified but indigent students to access tertiary education.

He argued that many students would be unable to sit for the examinations required for university admission because of the cost.

The ADC presidential candidate further criticised what he described as contradictions in the Tinubu administration’s education policies, insisting that existing intervention programmes had not addressed the structural barriers limiting access to education.

He maintained that education should never become another avenue through which Nigerians bear the cost of government policy failures.

“No nation has ever taxed its way into educational excellence. Countries that aspire to economic greatness invest more—not less—in education during difficult times because they understand that human capital is the engine of sustainable development. Nigeria cannot build a globally competitive economy while systematically pricing millions of its children out of classrooms,” he said.

Atiku requested President Bola Tinubu to take immediate steps to overturn the rise in the fees charged at Unity Schools and the planned ₦50,000 fee for WAEC and NECO examinations.

Additionally, he encouraged the Federal Government to arrange an urgent meeting of stakeholders on how to finance public education sustainably, fund public schools, develop education infrastructure, employ more teachers, build the capacity of tertiary institutions and make sure no Nigerian child remains uneducated due to lack of money.